Every year, hundreds of racers go on the search for the perfect weekend warrior to gut out, put a roll cage in, weld shut and bang around the nearest track in. Some racers go on this search more than once a year.
Combing through Craigslist spam and unreliable ads is bad enough (and also why we created this site), but even worse is not having a good idea of what you’re looking for. You need to know which cars to keep your eyes and ears open for and which ones aren’t worth your time.
The real kicker, however, is that individual tracks and races have their own rules, so the perfect car in one race may be completely illegal in another. Some Enduros are only for 4-cylinders while others are strictly V6s or V8s. Some races run clockwise around the track and even include additional obstacles.
Different cars are ideal for different races and styles. For the sake of simplicity, we’ve decided to rank the top 3 Enduro cars in the 4, 6 and 8-Cylinder categories. These cars were chosen on the basis of acceleration, top speed, maneuverability and—well—ability to take a beating.
Have other cars you would like to nominate, or don’t agree with our lists? Let us know in the comments!
4-Cylinders
4-Cylinder races are exciting to watch on short tracks because of how quickly they can accelerate on small tracks and zip in and out of obstacles. The perfect 4-cylinder car should be not only quick, but durable and capable of some serious pinball-like knocks.
- Ford Escort
- Honda Civic
- Honda CRX
6-Cylinders
The draw of 6-Cylinder Enduros (usually combined with 4-cylinders or 8-cylinders) is the speed these cars can get up to. Oftentimes, racers can get their hands on a 90’s sports car for relatively cheap and go on a tear when a little open track presents itself.
- Chevy Camaro
- Ford Mustang
- Honda Accord
8-Cylinders
Ah, the big boys. The land yachts. The tanks. The V8s can take a beating, force their way into whatever line they choose and generally push, shove and dominate their way around the short track. Ideal 8-cylinders should be reliable, relatively fast and hard to get around.
- Ford Crown Victoria
- Oldsmobile Delta 88
- Chevy Caprice
You might want to consider adding the 94, 95 & 96 Buick Roadmaster’s. These years all have the V-8 LT1 motors. Big and fast.
I picked up 96 geo prizm and ran it for the last two races of the year, and honestly it ran hard as hell on the track, handled awesome, and took barely any damage. Plus replacement parts are easy cause it is the same car as a corolla of the same year, and easy to find rims and tires since they are 4×100.
I drive an 85 chevy celebrity wagon. It has the 2.8 v6. Ive taken some pretty hard hits this year and she is still running strong. This car has the absolute best 2.8 I have ever seen.
Thank you for you page.
I bought a 3.1L V6 97 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme last year and ran the car in two 25 lap qualifiers and 75 laps of a 100 lap enduro (didn’t finish all 100 due to time changing flat tires). I then used the car in a 75 lap endure at another track starting in 100th position and won the race. The car sat in a bar all winter and started up no problem in the spring. It ran its first 25 lap qualifier of this year a few weekends ago and was still a competitive car in the line up after having over 200 laps under its belt. The 3.1L GM engines are quite reliable and have some good power behind them as well.
At grandview in PA, cavaliers had a dominant run for a few years. Most of the cars were J-body cars. It all depends on the size and lay out of the track.
I picked up 96 geo prizm and ran it for the last two races of the year, and honestly it ran hard as hell on the track, handled awesome, and took barely any damage. Plus replacement parts are easy cause it is the same car as a corolla of the same year, and easy to find rims and tires since they are 4×100
looking for 4 or 6cyl enduro car
I race a 04 Toyota Camry with the 3.3l v6 against Acura TLs I’m the only one not in a Honda and even tho they have more power my car handles so much better than theirs I finish about 5th every race 3rd was the best it has placed never want to race anything different.